One thing is clear about Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna state: he could not be distracted in his relentless efforts to turn around the fortunes of the state. I can’t remember any governor in recent history who would build roads and other infrastructure without being as ceremonial as officially commissioning them.Infrastructure, health, education and security have been in the forefront of his administration’s policy focus. And he took many of his critics by surprise, when he refused to operate outside his campaign promises. Ask any keen observer of the El-Rufai administration and he would readily admit that the man has stuck to his campaign promises and nothing more.The issue of revenue generation stands him out as a leader determined to make his mark in the history of this former capital of Northern Nigeria. Early last year, Kaduna had already overtaken the oil rich Akwa Ibom in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and surpassed Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi combined in doing so. Kaduna state was hot on the heels of the industrial Ogun state even at that time it rose from a mid-table IGR state, to fighting the big boys for top 4.Today, Kaduna has continued to beat many Southern states to second place (including the South-south) in terms revenue generation. This has been going on side-by-side various policies and programmes for job creation. New agencies like KADRA have been given a facelift for purposeful governance of the state.About a year ago, the office of the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, gave the Kaduna state government a special award for doing something spectacular in ‘ease of doing business’.
The Sir Kashim Award has been one successful strategy of promoting hard work and creativity. The administration has effectively used this special award policy to bring to the front burner, a number of exceptionally brilliant sons and daughters of the state.His political rivals have desperately tried to change the narrative by alleging that he did nothing about the Southern Kaduna security challenge. In fairness to the governor, I have lost count of the number of meetings he has held inside Government House – sometimes with police commissioner and DSS officials in attendance. At other times, it would be with the General Officer Commanding (GOC) One Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army, traditional rulers of Southern Kaduna or the elected representatives of the area. Only recently some Southern Kaduna communities, notably, the Kataf monarchy, signed a peace pact to live in harmony and brotherhood. And because security issue is not something that can be discussed in the market square, the El-Rufai administration has ignored all efforts to be dragged into a social media booby trap. No sane governor would indulge in brickbats with opposition or critics over security matters in the open. This is one reality that seems to have escaped many or they have conveniently refused to understand. Some opposition elements have made the unfortunate security challenge in Southern Kaduna the launching pad for anti-El-Rufai campaign in the media, with no success, as the people know better than to follow twisted political narratives.
Still on Southern Kaduna, the Urban Renewal programme of the El-Rufai administration has, days ago, flagged off a N12.8 billion roads construction in Kafanchan city. And this is just one of the many strategies the administration has lined up for the area in recent months, notwithstanding the failed revisionism in the media.For me as an insider in Kaduna state APC, I know how many steps and pieces of advice the governor has offered, to further democratise our operations as its leader in the state.One fact is that Governor El-Rufai has already established an unbeatable record in changing the face of governance in Kaduna. Wastage has been blocked, participatory governance has taken centre-stage – with masses making their own input in the state’s budget for many years. I’m not sure any Nigerian governor has tagged along with the masses in planning state’s budget prior to tabling it before the legislature. I dare say this is no mean feat.Truly, there is no perfection in humanity, and El-Rufai has given democratic governance his best shot in the last five years. This in consideration of the global economic downturn occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic that brought many nations of the world on their knees. If we don’t hail the man for doing his very best under the prevailing circumstances, we cannot join blind critics to condemn him.
Hon Wusono writes from Kaduna.
